Men’s water polo aims for back-to-back MSPF championships and NCAA berth
Senior defender Warren Snyder said UCLA men’s water polo has improved its 6-on-5 since the last time it faced Stanford. The Bruins will face the Cardinal in the MPSF Championship semifinal Saturday should they win Friday. (Amy Dixon/Photo editor)
Men's water polo
TBD
Friday, 3 p.m.
Uytengsu Aquatics Center
No TV info
By Jack Perez
Nov. 16, 2018 1:37 a.m.
The Bruins will see new faces and old rivals this weekend.
No. 4 seed UCLA men’s water polo (20-3, 1-2 MPSF) will face the winner of the No. 5 seed Penn State Behrend (3-17) and No. 6 seed Austin College (1-12) matchup – both Division III teams – on Friday at Uytengsu Aquatics Center in its first game of the 2018 MPSF Championship.
The Lions’ three wins this season were all by two goals or fewer. The Kangaroos got their first win as an NCAA program in mid-October and will play their first games against conference opponents this weekend.
Sophomore attacker Chasen Travisano said playing either the Lions or the Kangaroos on Friday will allow the team to get a head start with an extra game to focus in on the task ahead.
“I think it’ll definitely help,” Travisano said. “Every time we play, it’s a chance to get better. We can grow closer as a team and get settled in.”
Coach Adam Wright said playing the extra game Friday will not have an effect on how the team’s games Saturday and Sunday go.
“We’ve been in tournaments throughout the year where we’ve had to play two games in a day,” Wright said. “At this point in the year, if that makes the difference, then we don’t deserve to move on.”
Should the Bruins advance to Saturday’s semifinal, they will face the No. 1 seed Stanford Cardinal (18-2, 2-1) for the third time this season. The Bruins are 1-1 against the Cardinal. The home team has won each time, with the Bruins leading the goal-scoring margin 17-16.
Senior defender Warren Snyder said the Bruins are studying what worked well against the Cardinal last time out in order to get another victory over their rivals.
“We need to pay attention to the small details,” Snyder said. “Our 6-on-5 improved drastically from the first time we played them. That’ll also be important in this next game.”
There is a possibility that the Bruins will be left out of this year’s NCAA tournament. If the Bruins finish fourth, they could miss the final tournament for the first time since 2013.
Wright said his team is not worrying about making the NCAA tournament and said the final choice is out of his hands. He also said that he wants his team to grow from this tournament no matter what the final outcome is.
“The only thing that’s in our control is we start off on Friday and we’ll go from there,” Wright said. “For all the teams, it’s the same thing. It’s about proving to ourselves that we have a chance to get better.”
